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The Spectacle Blog

The Children Are Fighting Again

By Jennifer Rubin on 12.13.07 @ 1:21PM

There are two "Democrats fighting each other" stories on front pages of major papers today, the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal. The Democrats have been stymied as President Bush has held firm on Iraq and found his fiscal footing and veto pen. They have now descended into name calling and finger pointing --mostly at one another. Aside from the Schadenfreude factor there is a real political opening for the GOP contenders. Several of the GOP candidates can make the point that they are the right one to stand up to Reid and Pelosi. Romney, citing his defense of marriage, can point to his experience in dealing with nutty liberals in Massachusets. Rudy, of course, frequently makes the case that he governored in an overwhelmingly Democratic city. And there are opportunities for each to point to their opponents' weaknesses. Is Huckabee going to stand up to Reid/Pelosi or capitulate when they scream for higher taxes? Will Romney be inclined to compromise as much with them as he did with the Massachsuetts legislature in crafting RomneyCare? More importantly, this becomes a compelling general election issue for Independents and conservative Democrats. It was one thing to throw the GOP bums out in 2006 when Bush was still in the White House but now that the Democrats are in the majority in Congress, dare we turn the White House over to Hillary/Obama? 2008 may not look so bleak after all.

topics:
Taxes, Iraq